Personnel/FTE

Chapter 29, Section 6 states that “The
operating budget shall indicate the number of positions proposed to be
authorized for each state agency or such other public instrumentality for the
ensuing fiscal year, the number of positions for each state agency in the
current and ensuing fiscal years and such other information as may be held to
explain the anticipated results of the proposed expenditures”.

To address this requirement, the House 2 recommendations
include employee counts summarized at the Government area level. Additional
detail is included throughout the Budget Recommendations to indicate the
employee level within specific departments.

Workforce Planning Goals

Beginning in fiscal year 2009, the Executive Office for
Administration and Finance (A&F) and the Human Resources Division have
worked together to implement clear policies surrounding employees. Each fall,
A&F engages each agency in a spending plan process in which each account is
evaluated to determine how funds will be spent for the current fiscal year.
This requires a detailed description of employees for the current year -
including those currently on staff, positions that are open and intended to be
filled and new positions for which funding is available. The goals of the
employee caps that have been in place since fiscal year 2009, at the start of
the fiscal crisis, and the subsequent review of all employee spending are to:

Restrain Growth in State Employee Levels - Since payroll is a
large portion of many agency expenditures, and reductions in force can take so
long that savings cannot be realized in a fiscal year, caps are needed to constrict
hiring. Although some hiring may have small costs for the current year, the
full year value of new staff have budget impacts that must be considered.

Mitigate Shifts to Other Funding Sources – Employees come onto
the state payroll several ways including the operating budget (FTEs and
contractors), the capital budget, federal grants and trusts. All sources are
carefully reviewed to ensure we are maintaining compliance with employment laws
and also to ensure that we are not using one time sources to pay for ongoing
costs.

Manage Overtime Costs – Although hiring restrictions are
important, overtime costs must be considered to ensure that proper staffing
levels are maintained for public health and safety where responsibilities are
24 hours / 7 days per week. Oftentimes, the savings of FTE restrictions are
simply shifted to higher overtime. Therefore, prudent management of both
overtime and staffing levels must be evaluated.

While A&F continues to work with Executive Branch
agencies to develop comprehensive and affordable staffing plans, it is also a
goal to maintain accountability and transparency in public reporting of
staffing levels.

Affect of the Budget on Personnel to Date

FTE Caps

Since the fall of 2008 The Administration has provided
strict FTE caps to the Executive Branch Departments. The caps are implemented
at the department level and reviewed regularly by A&F to ensure agencies
are taking the necessary steps to live within capped levels.

FTE caps are meant to be consistent with amounts allocated
for FTE spending. If an agency does not project that enough funding is
available to maintain an FTE level, a “reduction in force” plan must be
submitted to the Human Resources Division within A&F. These plans are
reviewed for their impact on public health and safety.

Reduction in Workforce

As a result of the fiscal crisis, all Agencies are being
asked to do more with less. Since the fall of 2008 the state workforce for
jobs in the Executive Branch funded with operating dollars has declined by 2,111
jobs. The reduction can be attributed to layoffs, attrition and retirement
across all agencies in the Executive Branch.

Furloughs

The Governor is also requiring approximately 4,000 managers
within the executive branch to take up to nine furlough days in fiscal year
2010. This is in addition to furloughs required of managers in fiscal year
2009. Additionally, since 2008, the Governor and the Legislature have
increased employee health care contributions, premium contributions and co-pays
for health services, as a means of achieving budgetary savings.

Union Contributions

The Governor called for renewed union
negotiations and contributions in October, as the Administration identified a
$600 million revenue shortfall in the current fiscal year. To date, the
Governor has reached agreement with the leaders of four state employee unions
representing 30,000 state employees. The Patrick-Murray
Administration has reached agreement with union workers on a new contract that
will save the Commonwealth millions of dollars and help mitigate employee
layoffs.

Members of SEIU Local 509 and members of Unit
2 represented by AFSCME Council 93 have ratified contract revisions that will
save taxpayers over $50 million over the next three years, including roughly
$14 million this fiscal year. It is the first time since collective bargaining
was established in the Commonwealth that a Governor has successfully negotiated
such compromises.

If approved by the Legislature, the new contracts will save
tens of millions of dollars through a combination of delayed wage increases and
eliminating some payments to the Health and Welfare fund.

The savings from these revisions will allow the
Administration to protect key programs and services and prevent some employee
layoffs.

H.2 Employment Levels

In reviewing the reductions needed to live within fiscal
year 2011 available funding, each agency will be required to critically
evaluate their employee level and determine if a reduction in this area is
needed to maintain a balanced budget. The fiscal year 2011 H.2 recommendation estimates
66,575 FTEs. This amount includes FTEs from both Executive and Non-Executive
departments as well as positions funded from the operating accounts listed
within the budget.

Fiscal Year 2011 Planning

Government Area

Approved FY 2010

Approved FY 2011

Budgetary

Budgetary

Executive

Administration & Finance

2,653

2,610

Education

545

546

Energy & Environmental Affairs

2,113

2,033

Health & Human Services

19,895

19,361

Housing & Economic Development

728

713

Independents

297

285

Labor & Workforce Development

305

307

Public Safety

8,546

10,609

Transportation

-

-

Executive Total

35,083

36,465

Executive Adjusted Total*

35,083

34,419

Non-Executive

Higher Education Campuses

14,296

14,296

Independents

9,755

9,027

Judiciary

7,608

5,831

Legislature

956

956

Non-Executive Total

32,615

30,110

Non-Executive Adjusted Total*

32,615

32,156

Grand Total

67,698

66,575

*H.2 recommends re-organizing the Department of Community Supervision (formerly Commissioner or Probabtion and Community Corrections) from the Judiciary to the Executive Office of Public Safety.

For fiscal year 2011, FTE caps will continue to be in place
in order to continue to manage the state workforce. For the Executive Branch,
head count will be managed for all funding sources but specifically for the
operating budget funds recommended in the H.2 recommendation.

Key initiatives Impacting the State Workforce

MassDOT Reform

In June 2009, Governor Patrick signed Chapter 25 of the Acts
of 2009 creating the new, streamlined Massachusetts Department of
Transportation (MassDOT). MassDOT represents a merger of the former Executive
Office of Transportation and Public Works (EOT) with the Massachusetts Turnpike
Authority (MTA), the Massachusetts Highway Department (MHD), the Registry of
Motor Vehicles (RMV), the Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission (MAC) and the Tobin Bridge. The new organization also assumed responsibility for many of the bridges and
parkways formerly operated by the Department of Conservation and Recreation
(DCR). Implementing the reform act has lead to changes in the classification
of transportation FTEs, namely the transition of the 1,200 former EOT and DCR
budgetary FTEs to an off budget trust fund.

Sheriffs

A year ago, Governor Patrick proposed the alignment of all
14 Massachusetts State and County Sheriffs under the state budgeting and
finance laws. The Legislature approved the Governor’s proposal through passage
of the sheriff transfer legislation, Chapter 102 of the Acts of 2009, which was
approved by the Governor on August 6, 2009. This act transferred the remaining
7 county sheriff departments to the Commonwealth effective January 1, 2010.
Since then, sheriff departments have successfully transitioned onto the state
budgeting and accounting system and all sheriff employees have been placed on
state payroll, increasing the state FTE count by approximately 2,750 employees.
However, this does not represent a parallel increase in state spending as
sheriff operations prior to the transfer were predominantly funded by the
Commonwealth. Additionally, deeds excise revenue previously funding sheriff
operations will now be remitted to the Commonwealth.

Information Technology Realignments

Because of an initiative to transfer all information
technology employees to secretariats, those employees that have routinely been funded
from off-budget sources are being transferred into Intragovernmental Service
Fund accounts where they will report to staff at the secretariat-level, but
continue to be paid from the off-budget sources. This represents an “increase”
of nearly 300 FTEs on the overall totals.

Contractor / Capital Conversions

Given the cost associated with paying for employees from
capital funds and the renewed focus on wage enforcement efforts, every effort
continues to be made to convert contract employees to full-time equivalents,
and to transfer employees onto the operating budget. Along with conversions that
have already been made, H.2 includes an outside section that allows for certain
capital and operating costs to be exchanged so that appropriate operating
dollars spent on capital needs can be shifted to the capital budget and vice
versa. This section will have an impact on our budgeted employee level but it
should be noted that these are not new state employees, they are just new to
the operating budget.

Other Considerations

Like all departments, the non-executive branch agencies will
be working to evaluate impacts on employees. Additionally, because funding at
the Higher Education campuses comes from various sources, some employee impacts
may be mitigated. Additionally, certain FTE increases due to compliance with
legal settlements and to address needs around public health and safety must be
considered.

Equal Opportunity Employment / Employee Diversity

Diversity and Equal Opportunity under the Patrick-Murray
Administration continues to flourish. Since the beginning of this administration
there has been a conscious effort to increase the diversity of our employee
base with respect to the women and minority groups.

Focus was first placed on recruitment and outreach, in an
effort to increase the overall representation of women and minorities in our
workforce. As of the end of fiscal year 2009, women comprised 52.4% of the
overall workforce. Minorities represented 22.3% of our workforce which
represents a 3.8% increase overall.

In particular there has been a focus on increasing the
representation of females and minorities in the senior level management ranks.
As of the end of fiscal year 09, females represented 47.0% of our senior
managers and minorities represented 12.5% of our senior managers.